With the advent of the Internet and the growth of inter-active applications available to computer users comes an increasing need for ubiquitous computing. In this context, ubiquitous computing means the ability of computers to affect most of a user's daily tasks. Computers are called “computers” because of their ability to “compute” or perform mathematical tasks. Computers are no longer seen as only computing machines, but are personal companions that are blending into the fabric of society in the form of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and personal information managers (PIMs), high functioning cellular phones and the like.
Computers no longer take up the space of an office to be able to compute pi to the 20th decimal place and, instead, fit into the palm of a hand with the same computing power. Software developers cognizant of the personal companion persona of newer computing tools create user-friendly applications making the computing aspect of computers nearly invisible to users. Such technology results in user interfaces closely resembling human-type interfaces in sharp contrast to prior art computer-readable punch cards required in the past. Another growing technology affecting the ubiquitous nature of computing is wireless technology. Increasing growth of wireless and wired communication networks and the newer types of wireless networks create a need for computers to take advantage of the communication abilities of computers. Wireless no longer means a cellular phone that must be hard-wired within a vehicle, as was known in the past. Modern lithium-ion type batteries and other small but powerful batteries enable cellular phones, PIMS, PDAs and notebook computers to operate for hours at a time without requiring recharging. The long-term operation of computing devices enables a user to move from place to place without concerns of recharging looming while using a device. However, the long-term operation by a user creates opportunities for development of new computing products heretofore not fathomed as being necessary or even possible. One type of new computing product can be referred to as a location awareness product type.
Current location awareness devices are fragmented, do not work together and are not extensible or unified. For example, global positioning systems, home networking systems, local area networks (LANs) and wireless phones connected to a computing system all are capable of providing data relevant from the location perspective to a computer system. There is no common denominator between these systems allowing synergistic utilization of the location data. Each device outputs location data in different formats. What is needed, therefore, is a location awareness system that allows for synergy among location awareness products to enhance a user's experience with a computer system and appropriate data structures and schemas to enable such a system to interact with different computer components. Regarding such a schema, what is needed is a schema that operates as an organizational element, enables the functioning for location awareness, and provides a semantic common denominator to promote interoperability.